Brave New World
by AppleCiderr
Summary: Tony Stark sacrifices himself to end the Infinity world, taking the gems with him through a portal to his supposed death. No matter what the Avengers tried, there was no way to trace the portal, they had to assume the worst. The world kept moving, but they all mourned Tony as a hero. But Tony never died. The Avengers and Tony Stark will meet again, but it will be far from Earth.
1. Chapter 1

It was absolute chaos

But they were _so_ close.

In the air there was violent weather. Thunder, rain, hail, fire, meteors. Portals opened up at random and shot stuff towards them. Time and space was falling apart around them, but the Avengers weren't finished!

Several of the Avengers were struggling to hold down the growling, screeching form of Thanos. But Tony knew that it wasn't enough, they needed more power to stop him. Panting in and out, close to the point of panic, he looked down at his own hand.

The Infinity Gauntlet.

Just as Tony thought of this, Thanos roared, and rose again, sending all the weakened Avengers flying. He couldn't wait, there was no other way. He grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet, and ran forward. Flying into the air, he launched forward with the gauntlet on his fist.

With a vicious slam, it crashed into Thanos' stomach, The overhaul of violent power made Thanos fly back, his body crumbling into dust as he fell down the tower, his remains tumbling into the portal. Tony's body lurched forward, the drain on his human body worse than he could describe, his suit crumbling off his body from the whiplash. Before he could fall, a strong hand wrapped around his free wrist.

Tony whipped around to see the rough, exhausted Cap. After a few frantic pants escaped him, a small smile grew on the man's bearded face.

It was over.. They'd won.

.. .. ..

 _CRACK!_

The rejoicing stopped, as the Avengers Tower suddenly split in half, the violent storms around them starting to get sucked in by appearing portals. With Thanos gone, the power he had forced into the Earth had now started to react violently.

Steve and Tony tumbled forward as the rest of the team fell backward. Steve managed to grab a beam as they fell, leaving them hanging high above the ground. Tony's eyes wandered, he felt his heart seize up at the sight of the swirling portal below them, forcefully breaking apart, and swallowing large chunks of the tower inside of it. It's violent winds were pulling at the two men, threatening to swallow them up as well.

He heard a loud, painful groan behind him. Tony whipped his head back around to Steve, and he could see the struggle in his face. _How much longer can he hold on for?_ Tony thought in fear. _This portal isn't going to stop until it's satisfied.._

"Tony!" Steve yelled against the thundering noise,"Hang on! We'll get out of this, I promise!"

Even after everything that happened during Civil War, Steve wasn't going to let Tony die. The genius knew that, but he also knew that if they didn't manage to do something, both of them were going to fall.

Both of them were going to die.

"It's not stopping!" Tony exclaimed loudly, his horror growing more prominent with every second.

"Just hang on!" Steve snapped,"We'll make it!"

"CAP!" Tony yelled in return, his voice cracking dangerously.

Tony could see the fear hidden below layers in Steve's eyes. But the man hung on tightly, and that fear was covered by determination. He was ready to die, Steve was _ready_ to die.

But Tony couldn't let that happen.

Nobody would care if Tony died, the world would move on. But Steve.. Steve needed to stay. He needed to keep the Avengers going, to help the world rebuild after the destruction. The world needed Captain America, the world needed Steve Rogers.

Tony Stark was expendable. Iron Man could continue without him, he wasn't needed. But he could at least die for a reason. The Infinity Gauntlet was still on his wrist. Just imagining what could happen if someone got ahold of them filled him with fear.

Suddenly, Tony knew what he needed to do.

Steve's face was contorted with pain, Tony could see his feet scraping for a grip, his arm was shaking. "It's okay, It's okay!" He yelled,"We'll make it, Stark, I promise!"

Steve opened his pained eyes, looking at the genius. Tony's face was empty of emotion everywhere except his eyes. His eyes were shining with regret.. But determination. The blonde suddenly felt confused. Then, a small smile rose on the older man's face, eyes brimming with tears. Steve didn't understand.. What was-

"Steve.." Tony began,"Take care of everyone for me, okay?"

Suddenly, Tony's suit disconnected. The piece Steve had desperately been trying to keep ahold of fell from his fingers.

"Tony?! TONY NO!" Steve screamed, but all he could do was watch the man fell down into the swirling portal with the infinity gauntlet.

But this time, the portal didn't stay open. The second he flew through, another loud explosion rocked the building, colors flashing violently into the air as it slammed shut.

Everything stopped at once. The skies cleared, portals closed, magic dissipated, and anything that was floating crashed to the ground.

The Avengers tower crumbled to the ground underneath Steve's feet, sending him crashing to the ground. Too consumed with guilt and horror, he couldn't register anything else. He forced himself to his feet, running over to where the portal was.

Falling to his knees, he slammed his fists against the ground. "NO! NO!" He yelled, desperately begging for the portal to bring back the man who had just saved his life. He continued to slam his fists against the ground, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Captain! Stop!" A voice called. Suddenly, his wrists were grabbed. He struggled for a moment, his pained eyes turning to look behind him. Bucky, Drax, and Thor were all holding onto him, while the rest stood behind them, staring at where the portal would have been.

Steve struggled for a moment longer. "No! But- But!" He cried out, before falling backwards. "But what about Tony?!" He exclaimed,"He.. He let go of me! Why did he do that?! I could have held on! The portal was closing anyways!"

"I am groot.." A sad voice responded.

"Groot is right," Rocket declared,"That portal closed because of Tony. If he hadn't let himself fall through, who knows how much longer it could have gone on for!"

"But.." Steve stuttered out,"NO! He can't be dead!" He yanked his hands from the hold of the other avengers, and turned to Strange. "You can trace portals, I know you can!" He yelled,"Find the portal! Find Tony, please!"

Strange's surprised face changed to one of mourning. "I'm sorry, Captain," He replied,"I can't feel anything.. It's as if the portal was never there."

Steve's body filled with despair, as he flopped down on the ground once more, tears filling his eyes. "Tony.." He whispered,"Why? Why did this have to happen?"

Natasha knelt down by his side, rubbing his back. "Steve," She said softly,"There's nothing we can do now.. The fight is over, the portal is gone."

Steve lowered his head, but Natasha kept talking. "It's going to be okay Steve. Tony would want us to keep going," She claimed,"He died for us, he died a hero."

"He didn't _have_ to," Steve whispered,"He already was a hero.."

* * *

Somewhere Else

* * *

Everything was hazy..

Tony didn't know where he was, the world seemed to be floating in and out. He was in pain, his chest clutching tightly, his body gasping for breath. But he couldn't see, he couldn't move, everything was numb.. _What is happening to me?_

Suddenly, there was a hand on the back of his head. Something was placed over his mouth and nose, making his breathing calm down considerably. The air was no longer painful, and it confused him.

Before he could reach out, he was suddenly being moved. He was lifted up, and moved onto something fuzzy. Then, there was a constant movement around him. Confusion swelled within him, as he desperately tried to form a coherent plot. But, after closing his eyes for a simple moment, the world seemed to jump once more.

The next time he was a little aware was.. Strange. The thing on his mouth was removed, but the pain didn't come back. He felt warm.. Whatever he was in was soft below him, he felt like he was on a cloud. Tony frowned, trying to open his eyes, and see what was happening around him. But his eyelids were like weights..

Tony's hand groped against the soft thing, searching for anything stable to hold onto. _Is this what death feels like?_ He wondered.

Suddenly, a cold hand grabbed his. He let out a shaky gasp, his heart speeding up. But instead of the pain he was expecting, the hand moved to the back of his head. Lifting his head up, they placed something against his lips.

Curiously, Tony's lips parted just the slightest, and found his mouth being filled with nice, cold water. He didn't realize how dehydrated he was, as he opened wider, gulping down as much as he could without choking himself.

The mysterious person pulled the water away, making Tony let out distressed noise. "Shh.." Their voice responded, though it sounded like they were underwater. "If you have too much at once, you'll get sick.."

The voice did not sound familiar.. It was.. Different.. But everything felt that way. It was a little nerve-wracking and scary, but also was making Tony extremely curious, desperate to know what was going on.

Tony took a deep breath, blinking his eyelids several times. "Wh..Wh- Who.." He croaked out, but once again was cut off. The hand lowered him back down, and the soft thing on top of him was pulled up to his chin.

"No questions right now," The mysterious voice ordered,"You've been through a lot, you still need rest. Go back to sleep, okay? We can speak when you awaken."

The hand's fingers began to run through Tony's hair soothingly, in a massaging motion. Tony's mind didn't seem to be listening to him, the thought of sleep suddenly overriding everything else, even the questions that plagued him.

Soon, his body relaxed, and he faded into the embrace of unconsciousness once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes, it was hard for Steve to believe that fifty years had actually passed by.

After all, he hadn't aged a bit and neither had Bucky or Thor. He'd look in the mirror for any wrinkle, any change, but there'd be nothing. The others… They weren't so lucky.

Natasha and Clint we're pushing their nineties now, and each had their own lives. Bruce and Natasha ended up having a long term relationship, but never married. Clint was now a great grandpa, his kids had all grown up and had families of their own. They still visited SHEILD every now and then to help with the new Avengers.

Despite his age, Bruce still worked on science projects as much as he could. The older he got, the less the hulk showed up too; It seemed even the green monster could realize when someone was too weakened to handle him.

Scott Lang was also a great grandpa, and he talked about it as often as possible. He had trained another Ant Man almost twenty years ago, but still kept the original suit to himself.

Wanda and Vision were still in love, even though the once young woman was nearing the end of her life as well. Vision was still on the Avengers, while Wanda trained those with powers like her own.

Thor and Loki has gone back to Norway with the other asgardians after the stone brought them back, but Thor still visited as often as possible. Sam went back to living a normal life, but he never got married.

The Guardians went back into space, and Wakanda opened their borders. T'Challa was still the ruler, but would soon be giving up his throne to his oldest daughter.

Pepper and Rhodey were still helping run Stark Industries along with the much older Peter Parker, who was now the CEO. Rhodey trained the new owner of the war machine and then retired himself. Neither of them married, but they seemed happy either way.

All in all, Steve had to say that everyone was able to live a happy life after the end of Infinity War… Everyone except Tony.

Steve had spent a full decade desperately trying to find a way to bring his friend back, but he could never find a way. He worked with the Asgardians, Dr. Strange, Vision, the Wakanda scientists, everyone. There was no bringing him back…

Maybe that was why Steve was in New York, standing in front of the iron man statue by the Stark Tower.

He looked at the flower he held in his hand and sighed, placing it by the edge of the statue. "Hey Tony…" He whispered,"I'm… I'm so sorry. I wish I could find out where you were, how you've been these past fifty years… If you're even alive. I mean… No offense, but you were one of the oldest of us. Of course you still kicked ass."

The super soldier chuckled, he could almost hear the faint sound of Tony mockingly saying 'Language, Cap!' In the back of his head, just like old times.

He then fell silent for a long moment, before he gathered the courage to speak again. "Today is our annual 'Old Avengers' meetup," He explained,"It's been a while since all of us could get together, but it sounds like all of us will be there this time. I just wish you could be here too.."

A strange noise suddenly caught Steve's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw a whole swirling in the ground, but it vanished just as soon as he turned to look at it, the hole was gone. _What in the world…._ He rubbed his eyes, and then looked again, Still nothing. _I must be seeing things..._

His watch beeped, bringing his attention back to that. "Oh, I'm gonna be late," He realized, turning back to the statue. "I'll see you later, Tony." The super soldier then turned and hurried away.

If he had stayed a few more seconds, he would have seen another portal open up nearby and swallow up one of the cafe tables before vanishing once more.

* * *

"You're late," Clint's creaky, tired voice greeted him as he took a seat inside the Avengers compound.

Steve quickly pulled his chair out as he replied,"Sorry, I was… Um… Visiting Tony."

The rest of the group, which included, Bucky, Bruce, Thor, and the already mentioned Clint grew somber at the mention of their late friend. Of course many of them had also visited Tony earlier in the day, so they knew what Steve was talking about.

He smiled at them, trying to lighten the mood, and looked around. "Hey, where's Natasha?" He asked, turning his blue eyes back to the small group.

"She was visiting Fury before she came here," Bruce said, looking a little worried. "She should have been here by now… Maybe she got held up?"

The idea of Natasha being late, even though it had happened before a few times, still didn't help Steve's nerves calm down. He pulled out the chair and took a seat next to Bucky, stating,"Well, I'd feel kind of bad if we started without her.."

"I can give her a call if you want," Bruce said, pulling out his very thin cell phone. "It'll only take a second."

The others nodded, and so the scientist dialed her number. As soon as he put the phone to his ear, he frowned. "That's strange…It's didn't even ring," He muttered, pulling the phone back in front of his eyes. "Maybe the signal is bad, I'll just go outside for a second."

He grabbed his cane and slowly made his way outside, and Steve felt a little angry. Not at Bruce, but at himself. It hurt to see them all age together… But he still didn't look older than 35, neither did Bucky, it was like a curse. He didn't feel super… He felt trapped.

"So…." Clint cut through his thoughts, flicking at a pen on the table. "How has saving the world been? That slime monster was pretty crazy."

Steve knew Clint was just trying to distract him from his thoughts, but the man honestly wanted it. "It was crazy, and really sticky. You think after fifty years of that slime fad being around, the dude would know how much borax to add!"

Clint and Thor laughed at his joke while Bucky rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, my friends!" Thor exclaimed,"That adventure was quite hilarious, although I feel we are still cleaning up after it even two weeks later!"

The archer laughed again, but it quickly turned into a cough. The three others looked at him with concern, but the man waved them off. "I'm fine," He promised,"I've had that cough for a while… I just, I miss the days I could join those fights…"

Steve bit the inside of his cheeks, his sadness returning full force. Too afraid to broach the subject, he quickly said,"Bruce has been out there a while, I'm going to go check on him!" He quickly got up, hurrying outside before anyone could say anything.

The door slid open, and Steve found… Nothing. Bruce was nowhere in sight. _What? Where did he go?_

"Bruce?" He called, looking around both corners of the compound, but he still saw no sign of the scientist. "Bruce?! Is everything okay?"

Panic started to rise up in his throat. _First Natasha doesn't show up, and now Bruce is gone?! I need to tell the others._

As fast as he could, he turned and ran back into the compound. But when the doors slid open, he skidded to a stop. Thor, Clint, and Bucky were gone too… As well as the table they had been sitting at.

"What the… What's going on!?" He exclaimed, quickly pulling out his own phone to call the new avengers for help.

But just as quickly as he did that, the ground suddenly disappeared underneath him. Steve felt himself fall, but didn't have enough time to grab onto anything.

All he could do was watch as he seemed to sink below the compound and fall, farther and farther until he impacted the hard ground and everything went black.

* * *

"...eve…"

"...eve!"

"STEVE!"

Steve gasped, jerking up into a sitting position and looking around for the source of the voice. He saw Bucky staring at him with a panicked look, reaching out towards the other super soldier.

"Buck… What happened?" He asked,"I came back inside and you guys were gone!"

"The ground opened under us and pulled us down," Bucky explained,"Bruce and Natasha are here too."

Steve quickly leapt to his feet. "They are!? Are they okay!?" He frantically questioned, terrified that his nearly one hundred year old friends would die from such a fall.

Bucky then bit his lip, looking conflicted. "Um… There's something you should see," He nervously said, motioning for Steve to turn around.

His blue eyes followed Bucky's hand, and he felt his heart skip several beats. Standing behind him was Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Thor except… Everyone except the latter looked as young as they did when Steve emerged from the ice. Their wrinkles were gone, their skin and bodies were smooth and almost looked like they had baby fat again. Their clothes now looked very out of place.

"How..?" He whispered, but the three seemed just as confused as him.

Thor then clasped a hand on Steve's shoulder. "My friend, I think it may have to do with where we have landed…" He stated,"I do not know where we are; but I know that this is not home."

For the first time since he woke up, Steve focused on the area around him. They were surrounded by giant trees that went up extremely high with leaves of many different colors ranging from green to blue to even pink. The flowers on the ground were strange shapes and some even glowed, Steve had never seen such a thing before.

Looking to his left, Steve also saw a rushing river that was filled with pink water. When he looked back up, past the trees, he found himself staring at three different suns in the sky, one that was very large and a bright white, another that was a dark orange and medium size, and a purple one that was very tiny.

"What in the world…" He whispered, looking back at the rest of them. The other Avengers will looking around with just as much confusion as him, but Bruce, Natasha, and Clint also were busy examining their newly de-aged self.

Bruce was the first person to break through the tension, nervously asking,"What are we going to do?"

Thor looked around for a few more seconds before he replied,"We have no way to get home, at least not right now. We should probably look for shelter or some inhabitants that could help us."

The others agreed, mainly because they had no idea what else they could do when they didn't even have their usual weapons. They could only hope that someone would notice their absence… _But even then, how long would it take them to bring us back?_ Steve wondered as they made their way through the strange glowing bushes.

"Hey Nat, look!" Clint suddenly exclaimed, before rushing past them and leaping up to a nearby branch of a strangely fluffy tree, grabbing and hanging on with only one hand. "I can do this again!"

Natasha merely smirked at him, but Steve saw the desire in her eyes to follow his lead in climbing around.

Before any of them could follow Clint, however, glowing eyes suddenly appeared on the tree. Bruce let out a choked noise, which made the archer turn towards where he was looking and shrieked, falling back onto the ground.

Several more pairs of eyes appeared and then the purple fluff the tree raised wings and flew up higher into the tree, loud chattering coming from the strange creatures as they went out of sight.

They stared in awe and confusion until the fluff balls were out of sight; then Clint groaned and leaned into his hands. "I hate this place," He muttered.

"All the more reason for us to look for help," Bucky brought up and started forward once more, wearily watching for any more eyes on the trees.

Thor, ever the optimistic, cheerfully said,"Aye! Perhaps Dr. Strange could track us down!"

Steve frowned, not really enjoying that idea. _He couldn't even find Tony, how is he going to find us?_ He thought bitterly, but didn't speak his mind. They needed to stay optimistic if they were going to find a way home, or at least find someone who could help.

That wouldn't take very long, right?

* * *

Three Days Later

* * *

Things were not going well for the Avengers.

The forest seemed to stretch on for miles, they hadn't been able to escape from it. Steve would like to say that they were going in circles, but he didn't even know where they had initially landed anymore.

The nights were terrifying. The three moons in the sky gave off a little light, and many of the plants glowed. The crawling creatures and their glowing eyes seemed to always be watching them, and their calls sounded like whispering. Sometimes there would be the sound of lumbering steps that would leave them all waiting to be attacked for hours.

On the second night, Thor grew ill after eating some glowing berries. He threw up anything that had been left in his system. When they tried to help by giving him some normal looking blue water, it only made him (and them) sicker.

Too terrified to try any of the other berries, it left their stomachs crying for food. But with no weapons and no idea which creatures would be safe to eat, they were out of luck.

 _Are we going to die here?_ Steve casually wondered as he shivered against a tree, the cold morning wind seeming to bite at his skin. He then frowned, quickly shaking his head. _No! No we won't! We'll find a way home!_

And so they kept going, but things were starting to look more and more hopeless. The bottles of water that had fallen through the portal with them were nearly gone, and they were starting to feel woozy.

"Let's take a break here," Steve decided on the fourth morning, moving to sit against the tree nearby.

Clint then growled, throwing his hands in the air. "What's the point!? We're gonna die here, Steve, admit it!" He yelled.

"No we won't," Steve tried to placate, but he saw the others looking rather dejected as well, obviously leaning more towards Clint's opinion. Steve quickly backtracked. "W-well, we can't just give up!"

The archer began ranting away once more, so Steve tried to not pay attention. He looked through the bushes next to them and noticed something… A clearing!

He stood up to get a better look, and saw that there was a tree that's trunk was curled and went up high, and had thick, red fruits hanging from it.

"Guys, look," He said, pointing to the tree. The others stopped arguing and followed his eyes; instantly the hunger became clear in their faces.

Thor's face, however, turned a hue of green. "Friends, what if they are poisonous?" He questioned.

"They look like those red fruits we saw on those trees yesterday, and some of those weird purple things were eating them!" Clint frantically mentioned.

Natasha and Bucky didn't look convinced, but they didn't argue. Bruce looked even more worried. "But the other trees are up high and in the forest, isn't it a little weird that there is just a lone tree in the middle of a clearing?" He nervously asked.

Clint didn't seem to care, as he ran out of the bushes and into the clearing; Leaping onto the tree's trunk and climbing towards the fruits.

"I don't like this…" Bruce muttered, and Steve had to agree. The rest of the group quickly went to the entrance of the clearing, waiting anxiously.

Clint finally reached the fruit and grabbed it, yanking it off the tree. He then let out a happy, satisfied yell. "Haha! See? I told you!" He declared, taking a big bite out of the fruit to prove his point.

Steve let out a sigh of relief, and then made to follow Clint to the tree. But then, the tiniest of movements caught his eyes. The tree trunk was shaking.

The leaves them raised up like an upside down umbrella, revealing a serpentine face underneath it. He hissed and opened his mouth, revealing sharp white fangs.

"Holy shit!" Clint screamed from where he was now held above the mouth. He threw the fruit, which slammed into the creatures eyes and made him recoil in shock. Clint quickly threw himself to the ground and ran back towards the group.

Before he could get any farther, however, the creature's Tail shot out of the ground and wrapped tightly around Clint's leg. The archer slammed face first into the ground with a cry of pain.

The creature let out what sounded like a pleased noise, and then lifted his tail completely out of the ground, ripping through the grass and dirt. It then began to slither towards Clint, it's mouth wide and ready to attack.

"No!" Steve yelled, running into the clearing to try and help his friend.

But before he could get more than halfway, the creature screeched in pain, dropping Clint from it's grasp. Steve skidded to a stop, and watched as it's serpentine head turned towards the wound that was now spitting purple blood.

There was an arrow in the creature's side.

Steve stared at it for a moment, but didn't waste anymore time. He grabbed Clint and ran back towards the edge of the clearing.

The creature looked around wildly before its red eyes caught sight of the two running humans. He slithered forward again, but another arrow whistles through the air and embedded in the creature's snout.

It screeched again, hunching down and shaking its head in a desperate attempt to dislodge the arrow.

The Avengers frantically looked around the clearing as well, trying to catch sight of whoever was shooting those arrows. "Is somebody out there?!" Bruce whispered nervously, voicing all the others' thoughts.

As if answering his question, a figure seemed to appear at the other end of the clearing. Against his back was the bow and arrows and a long staff, but they weren't wielding any of them. Instead, they held something that seemed to be shining, and glowing.

 _What is he doing?_ Steve wondered, but had no more time to think about it when the hissing creature whipped around to face the stranger as well. With an angry screech, it charged towards the figure with determination. "AH- Look out!" Steve cried.

The figure didn't move or react; Instead, they brought the shining object up to their mouth. A tune began to flow through the clearing. It was a song more beautiful than anything Steve had ever heard, and yet it was completely alien to him at the same time. The tune made him feel relaxed… and safe.

The creature seemed to feel it too, as he stopped his charging only inches away from the stranger. He lowered himself back to the ground, and let out only the smallest of whines. The leaves that had been raised threateningly lowered against its neck in what seemed like a sign of calming down.

The stranger slowly reached out, placing a gloved hand on the creatures snout. Steve's view was blocked, but when the stranger's hand appeared again, the arrow that had been in the serpentine animal's body was in his hand.

He then kept playing the tune and slowly traveled to the creature's tail, taking the arrow out of there as well. He then gave the creature a little nudge, and it made a small noise before slithering into the other side of the forest and out of sight. Only then did the stranger lower the musical instrument and look towards them.

Steve found that he could help himself as he went back out into the clearing, wanting desperately to interact with their rescuer.

The figure, who Steve could now see was wearing a cloak with some small objects hanging off them, turned towards them as well and walked closer. They were silent until they met at the middle of the clearing, the only thing in between them was the pit that the snake creature had made.

"You saved Clint..." Bruce whispered,"You saved _us_ …"

The figure didn't do anything for a moment, and then simply nodded to the scientist's question. Despite the calmness that he seemed to show, Natasha noticed that his hands were shaking the slightest bit.

Steve then frowned. "But… Why?" He asked,"We don't even know you, we're completely strangers. Why would you help us."

The figure then surprised Steve by laughing. It was a full, gentle, and… Extremely familiar laugh.

Those wrapped hands then moved up, taking hold of the hood and then pulling it back. As soon as Avengers caught sight of the face underneath, they all gasped. Their mysterious rescuer was none other than…

"Tony!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hold on! Tony! Wait just a minute!"

The Avengers frantically chased after their missing friend who was practically flying through the forest. They could barely see him, only able to follow by the end of his cloak.

Sometimes they'd even lose track of him when Natasha, Bruce, or Clint (Who were still getting used to their younger bodies) lost their breath and had to stop. The cloak would quickly disappear into the trees and out of their sight.

They wouldn't lose him for long, however, as seconds later he would pop out of the trees again and say,"Come on!"

Finally, after what had to be at least ten minutes of chasing after their friend, they came upon a mountain littered with trees and other strange shrubs.

"Come! Follow!" Tony called back, grabbing his staff and launching himself up onto the green mountains and continuing to climb up with speed that awed the Avengers.

Steve's jaw dropped, and he quickly exchanged a look with Bucky and Natasha. "Since when could he do that?" He asked, motioning to the speedy genius.

The female assassin shrugged, and quickly said,"We'll lose him if we stand here catching flies."

"Yeah especially because the flies here are probably poisonous or have razor sharp wings.." Clint muttered, grabbing onto the rocks and hoisting himself up.

Thor picked up Bruce, much to the smaller man's dismay, and carried him up the mountain while the others followed after them.

Soon, they saw Tony stop and grab a vine, leaning down and smiling towards them. "Here!" He ordered, pointing to the inside of the mountain. But Steve found that he was more focused on something else.

His face… It wasn't exactly the same as Steve remembered. It had less wrinkles, was a lot smoother, and no sign of the goatee that Steve recalled with a finite memory. He looked younger… Just like Natasha, Bruce, and Clint did… But even _younger_ than them.

No matter how hard he tried to find answers, all he was confronted with were more questions. So, he dragged himself all the way up to where Tony was. Instead of more mountain, there was a gaping opening to the side of it.

"Oh…" Steve said, realizing Tony had brought them to shelter. He climbed all the way up, and sat at the ledge, helping Clint and Natasha up just as Bucky and Thor made it to the top as well.

Instead of joining them, Tony merely began to slide back down the mountain. Instantly, panic erupted in Steve's heart. He jumped to his feet and leaned over the edge of the cave. "Tony! Wait!" He exclaimed,"Where are you-"

Tony whipped back around, pointing at Steve, and then pointing to the ground. "Stay," He ordered.

The super soldier grew a little frantic, reaching out and saying,"But Tony-"

"Stay!" The genius ordered again, pointing at the ground once more.

Steve frowned, but decided to listen to Tony; He obviously knew more about what was going on than they did. He sighed and sat back down, listening to the sounds of Tony scaling back down the mountain.

"I can't believe it…" Steve muttered,"We find out after all this time that he's alive, and he just takes off again!"

Bucky's voice broke through his mix of sadness and anger. "Relax, punk," He said,"I'm pretty sure if he was going to ditch us, he wouldn't have led us here."

Steve's curiosity got the better of him, so he turned around. The cave had a stone lined firepit in the middle, and what looked like a pot above where the fire would be, held up by some thin metal poles.

Against one of the walls, Steve saw what looked to be a sword and a bag and a pile of fuzzy looking leaves. On the leaves he also noticed what looked like a ball of spikes.

"What in the world…" Bruce muttered, poking at the ball curiously, and then seconds later jumping back with a squeal when it twitched and unwound itself.

Turns out the spiky thing was actually another creature that looked a lot like a lemur. The striking differences were the much larger ears, and horns on its head, how its back legs were claws instead of hands like its front legs, and how it had spikes going all the way from the top of its snout all the way to the tip of its tail.

It looked at Bruce with those glowing yellow eyes and released sounds that sounded a lot like chuckles, before laying back down on the bed of leaves.

The Avengers all looked at each other in confusion, and then jumped as a loud thump came from the front of the cave.

They whipped around, and saw Tony was back; He was holding a large cloth on the ground that looked like it was filled to the brim with things. The genius then let the edges of the cloth open, and revealed a bounty of healthy looking fruits and several pink fish.

Almost instantly, there was a chorus of growling stomachs that made most of the Avengers blush. Tony simply chuckled at them, and tossed some fruit their way.

Steve caught the fruit, but didn't start to eat it. He didn't care about food, he had questions.

"Tony," He said, gaining the attention of the man. "You've been here… All this time?"

The genius tilted his head a bit, squinting, and then replied,"Yes… I have…"

"Why didn't you ever try to contact us!? Why didn't you try to come back?!" Steve exclaimed frantically,"Do you have any idea how we felt!? What it was like without you!?"

Tony suddenly let out a keening sound, grabbing at his hair, and cradling his head in his hands. "Stop…" He muttered.

"Why!?" Steve demanded,"It's been so long! I just want to know what happened."

"English…" Tony muttered,"Hard… Been… So long…"

Steve frowned, looking slightly confused. Natasha quickly jumped in. She sat down next to him, giving the super soldier a pointed look.

"Steve, he's been in this world for a long time and they don't speak English," She said,"It's probably really hard for him to understand what you're saying, especially when you unload everything at once."

The blonde super soldier looked back at the genius, and saw he was nodding the slightest bit. Steve's cheeks turned a light pink. "Oh…" He muttered,"Sorry.."

Tony waved him off and then said,"It's okay… Just… Might take time…"

The Avengers all nodded quickly, and Tony removed his hands from his face and moved over to the fire pit. He clapped his hands together, and then placed them on the wood in the pit. Instantly, a fire burst forward inside the pit. The group watching him jumped in surprise, letting out strangled noises.

"That was magic…" Thor whispered seriously.

"How… How did you do that?" Bruce questioned,"Were you always able to do that?"

Tony looked towards them with a fox-like grin, and casually answered,"What? You think I would just be…. Sitting around... waiting for you? Did you forget who you're dealing with?"

Steve's heart suddenly felt warm and happy. It had been so long since he had heard Tony tease them… He couldn't believe that he was admitting this but… He really did miss it.

Once the fire was going pretty well, Tony grabbed the metal stick from above it and began to put the fish onto them. He then placed it above the fire, letting the flames slowly roast it.

"Uh… Shouldn't you gut them or clean them or something?" Clint asked.

"No," Tony answered,"They have no scales, see?"

He casually scrapped one wrapped finger against the fish's side, and sure enough no scales flew off.

Once again, Clint groaned and fell back against the cave wall. "I hate this place…" He muttered again. "Everything is so weird…"

Tony didn't respond to that, instead he went over to the bed of leaves, slid the creature over, and sat with his legs crossed. Once he had them all in his sight, he asked,"How did you get here?"

Part of Steve wanted to fire back 'I could ask you the same thing' but he knew that would lead them nowhere. Tony was obviously getting better at English by the second, as he expected, so he decided it was best that they answer the question.

"I was leaving my meeting with Fury," Natasha started,"and I saw something on the horizon fall through the ground. I went to check it out, but it vanished and appeared back under me, and then I ended up here."

Bruce hummed. "So that's what happened," He muttered,"Because I went outside of the compound to call you, and I fell through one too."

"Sort of the same for me," Steve mentioned,"Bruce was gone for a while but when I went out to find him, I fell too."

Clint then scoffed. "You guys are lucky, you got picked off one by one. That damn hole just swallowed the whole table!" He exclaimed. Bucky and Thor's frantic nods confirmed what the archer was saying.

"So a portal…" Tony muttered, scratching his temple. "That's what I thought…"

 _What does he mean by that?_ The Avengers wondered, and then Bruce moved to sit closer to him.

"How in the world did you find us? We've been going in circles for days!" The scientist exclaimed.

Tony smiled at him, and chuckled a bit. "I found one of the chairs in the middle of the forest, so I knew something happened. I followed your trail from there." He said, turning to look at Clint. "And it seems like I got to you just in time."

Clint's eyes widened, and he turned a shade of red as he began muttering to himself. "I coulda taken 'em…" He muttered,"You just showed up too for me to reveal my true splendor."

Tony's wrapped hand went to cover his mouth as he laughed aloud at Clint's words. The sound silenced all of them in shock; They had never heard Tony laugh so openly and happily.

In fact, now that Steve thought about it, Tony looked a lot happier. His eyes were open pools of emotions, his shoulders weren't tight with tension, he was more relaxed and unguarded than Steve had ever seen.

Finally, the man's laughter began to cease. "Sorry…" Tony said,"It's just, I really missed this, I really missed you guys."

Natasha, to the surprise of many, smiled back at him and replied,"I missed you too Tony, a lot. You don't know how hard it's been the past fifty years without you."

Tony then smirked, leaning closer to the young woman. "Well then I have to tell you that you look great for your age," He teased.

Natasha gasped, and quickly went to punch Tony in the shoulder but the brunette had already hopped to his feet and escaped her strike attempt.

"You guys should eat and get some rest," The young man said,"We have a long trip to start tomorrow."

Thor quirked his eyebrow. "This is not your home?" He asked.

Tony scoffed at his suggestion, rolling his eyes. "This tiny cave? No way, point break!" He answered,"I stay here when I'm traveling. Tomorrow I'll take us to the Tarog village, now _that's_ my home!"

The young man turned his head out to look at the three moons rising into the sky, and then went to the pile of leaves. "But, it is a ways away, so we should all get some rest," He said, grabbing an armful and placing it near each of them.

Clint looked at the pile of leaves suspiciously, but then slowly lowered his head onto it. He gasped, and then moaned happily. "Dude, this feels like a pillow!" He exclaimed.

The others were quick to follow Clint's lead, as they were all extremely exhausted. For some, they fell into a deep sleep as soon as their food was finished and their head touched the leaves; Others, however, were kept awake by thoughts and questions.

Even hours after everyone else had fallen asleep, Steve found that he couldn't. He was afraid; afraid that if he closed his eyes, Tony would vanish again.

He wanted to talk to him, ask the questions that had been torturing his mind since his friend and teammate fell through that portal half a decade ago. _I need to know, I need to understand._

The super soldier looked over at where Tony was, asleep leaning against the entrance of the cage. He looked so strange, and so amazing all at once.

His face was clear of the wrinkles that had once plagued it, his brown eyes brighter than Steve had ever seen. His clothes were strange; A dark brown cloak with a dark red colored shirt underneath that reached below his waist and a gold-colored sash tied around his waist. The harem pants were the same red color, and around Tony's calf they came to a stop and were replaced with white wrappings that went all the way down to his feet, only his toes were showing. He had the same wrappings from his elbows to the tops of his knuckles. Around his neck was that strange flute, but now Steve could see it seemed to be made out of a crystal that sparkles many colors of the rainbow.

 _What adventures has he had here?_ Steve wondered. _What have I missed? Why didn't I try harder to find him?_ He sat up. _I need to talk to him._

But before he could go any further, Steve's wrist was grabbed. He whipped around and saw Natasha looking at him firmly.

"Let him rest," She ordered,"There will be plenty of time to talk to him later."

Steve wanted to protest, but when he turned back to look at their missing genius he saw what Natasha was looking at. There were no bags under Tony's eyes, no signs of nightmares, he looked completely peaceful.

 _She's right…_ Steve admitted, giving the woman a nod and then laying back down on his pillow of leaves. _Questions can wait… I'm just happy we're all together again._

And with that thought, Steve finally managed to descend into sleep as well.

* * *

Steve was one of the first to awaken the next morning. He felt a little sore and exhausted, but then again he had slept on the floor of a cave.

He rubbed his eyes and turned to look at the light coming from the entrance, where Tony was still sitting. Instead of on the side, he was now sitting with his legs dangling and looking up.

 _Should… Should I say something?_ The super soldier thought. _Probably but… What should I say? What can I say? Should I just-_

"Oh, you're up," Tony's voice cut through his thoughts and made Steve jerk his head up.

The young man's brown eyes were on Steve, and the super soldier felt any words he was going to say shrivel up. He slowly raised a hand, giving the weakest of waves to the younger man. _Oh my god Steve, are you trying to look stupid?_ The super soldier asked himself.

Thankfully, Tony didn't react outwardly to his awkward behavior. Instead, he turned his head back towards the outdoors beyond the cave and patted next to him with his wrapped hand. Recognizing the invitation, Steve quickly hurried over to the entrance of the cave and sat down next to Tony.

Unable to think of anything to say, the super soldier settled for looking out at the forest that was below them. There was no sight of ground for miles, only a rainbow of different colored trees, some even seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. Some reptile like creatures with four wings were gliding through the air, and the three suns were barely above the highest trees. It was a strange sight… But Steve found that it was still quite beautiful.

"I'm still mad at you, you know."

The super soldier jumped and turned his wide blue eyes toward Tony. The young man still wasn't facing him, but was looking up at the vast expanse of sky. No matter how hard he looked, Steve couldn't see any emotion on his face.

Since it didn't seem like Tony was going to continue his statement, Steve slowly asked,"Y-you are?"

"Well, obviously," Tony replied easily, looking at Steve with critical eyes. "Did you really think a few hurried words before we saved the world and I supposedly died would fix everything?" He asked.

Steve felt a blush crawl up his face once more so he quickly looked down at his hands in his lap. "I- Well… Um… Yes," He finally admitted.

Tony chuckled at his reaction and leaned forward a bit, making the sunlight from the three suns reflect off the crystal flute around his neck. "It's okay, though. I may be mad, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you," He explained,"We were family after all."

The young man then turned around, swinging his legs around and hopping to his feet. "Alright everyone, time to get up!" He called.

But Steve didn't follow after Tony; Instead, he looked out at the vast expanse of the world that he now inhabited, his mind repeating what his old friend had said before he left.

"We _were_?"

* * *

Hours later, the Avengers once again found themselves trekking through the huge forest. But this time it was different, this time they had a guide in the form of their old friend.

Tony moved through the forests with ease, he seemed to know exactly where to go and exactly what to avoid. Steve previously believed it was impossible to even know if you were going in the right direction, but Tony once again proved him wrong.

After a couple hours, they stopped to rest at a nearby stream of pink water. Tony motioned to the plastic water bottles that they still had and said,"You can get some water here."

Thor instantly turned a shade of green. "Um… Are you sure this is safe?" He asked.

Tony stared at the man for a long time, making the others uncomfortable. Then, a grin climbed onto Tony's face. "You drank the blue water, didn't you?" He guessed.

The god's eyes widened and he blushed deeply, throwing his hands in the air. "I didn't know it was poisonous!" He yelled.

Tony laughed at him, and exclaimed,"Dude, it looks like Windex! Why did you think that would be a good idea?"

Thor's face resembled a tomato at this point, and he quickly turned away while muttering to himself.

Tony, as if to prove his point, cupped his hands in the pink water and then took a huge sip. He lowered his hands and sighed happily. "Nice and fresh," He said,"Pink is good, blue and purple water is bad, although purple is a little better."

The others exchanged suspicious looks for a moment before heading to the side of the stream and filling their own water bottles as well. Bruce was quick to bring the bottle to his eyes, checking for any signs of what was making the water pink… But there was nothing, the water was completely normal... Well, except for the strange pink tint.

 _Well… At least we know where to get hydration now!_ The scientist thought, trying to keep his mind on the positive side of the situation. _Now we actually know something, all thanks to Tony._

Now carrying hydration, the ground continued their trek into the forest.

* * *

Just as the three suns started to set in the east, west, and south, some strange clouds began to crawl over the sky. Their color was a mix between blue and green, and they seemed to grumble as they moved.

"Uh oh," Tony said when he caught sight of them,"I guess we're gonna find a place to rest now before it starts to rain."

Although many of the Avengers wanted to ask why, they decided to trust Tony's judgement. They followed him until he found a large tree that's trunk seemed to be six smaller trunks wrapping around each other, and a large, leafy canopy that reminded them of an umbrella.

As soon as they got settled underneath, the rain began. It sounded like normal rain, it fell from the sky like normal rain, but Steve soon realized that a burning smell seemed to come along with it. He turned to look at Tony, giving an inquisitive look.

"Acid rain," The man replied easily,"But don't worry, that's not the only rain we get here. The key is to read the clouds. Green is acid, that's why I knew we had to move under something."

Bucky and Natasha both seemed impressed by how well Tony was at reading the terrain, and Steve could tell they were taking in any information the man gave him.

"So when can we continue on our trek?" Thor questioned, scooting a little further inward underneath the tree.

Tony chuckled and flopped backward, putting his hands under his head. "The suns were setting anyways, we probably won't be moving until morning, if we're lucky," He said,"So get some rest, we'll be at home by tomorrow night."

Steve's mind suddenly became plagued all over again, to the point that sleep seemed to evade him once more. Hours and hours seemed to crawl by, but he couldn't get his thoughts to calm down.

" _We were family after all."_

" _We'll be at home by tomorrow night."_

The super soldier frowned, rolling onto his side. Nearby was Tony, who looked completely peaceful and without a care in the world as he slept wrapped up in the brown cloak he had.

 _He's completely relaxed here, he knows everything by heart_ Steve thought. _He's completely content with this world, he hasn't complained once._

A dark thought suddenly climbed up onto his mind. _When we find a way home…_ The thought made his heart seize, suddenly wanting to grab onto Tony and never let go. _What if… What if…_

 _What if Tony doesn't want to come back with us?_


End file.
